Mr Mark Lin, 48, the owner of Vietnam Brides International Matchmaker, said he refused Mr Tan's demand because he suspected the latter had slept with the woman.

He said that when he asked her about it, she said yes.

Mr Lin added: "If it was the woman who changed her mind, I would have returned him the money. "But he was the one who didn't want her. If I keep giving refunds, my business will go bust. He was the one who chose her in the first place."

Mr Tan denied that he slept with the woman and the dispute went before the Small Claims Tribunal last September.

Last Friday, the judge ruled in Mr Lin's favour, saying he did not have to refund Mr Tan.

Mr Tan went to Mr Lin's agency in August and selected an 18-year-old Vietnamese girl to be his bride.

The teenager went home with him that evening.

"I really liked her so I didn't want to touch her until we were properly married. She slept with my daughter in another bedroom," said Mr Tan.

But the next day, the teenager called her friend to say she was afraid of Mr Tan's children, aged nine and 11, and because of their ages, she felt more like their sister than their mother.